The Forgotten and the Remembered
by Alseid
Summary: (WiP) Ginny comes across the diary in her 6th year and brings Tom back into the world. Fifth chapter now up, after eons of waiting.
1. Mutual Friends

A/N - Wow... I've looked back on this story, decided I REALLY NEEDED to do something about   
how it sounded, and started rewriting it. This is the first fruit of these efforts, and I'll probably  
do the first couple of chapters and do minor touchups on the other few. Then new chapters!   
Joy! Plus, a very nice *cough* well, I think it's very nice, poem I wrote that works with the story!  
^_^ Have fun, and if you've already submitted a review for the first chapter that's signed,  
log out and review again! And, even though I shouldn't have to say this, if you haven't reviewed,  
it is a must to leave a signed review. Okay... just read now before I start mindlessly blabbering...  
wait, too late.  
  
-  
  
the light was soon  
the night was late  
who could've improved  
such an ideal date?  
  
but nothing so great  
will last through the night  
when suddenly it ends  
there exists such a fright  
  
for like in a dream  
illusions and what-not  
you'll see things you've remembered  
and things you've forgot  
  
-  
  
The Forgotten and the Remembered  
Chapter One: The Beginning   
-  
  
Ginny had been having quite a wonderful day so far, an amazingly pleasant experience for   
a Monday. She had watched the close-scoring quidditch match between the competitive  
Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff teams with a few of her Ravenclaw friends, not paying much   
attention to the game, but havinga good time nonetheless. She had returned to the  
Gryffindor dorms early from the large dinner to get some much-needed alone time that   
would perfect her day.  
  
She quitely plucked her green pajamas from her old trunk at the foot of her bed decorated   
with crimson pillows and changed clothes quickly, leaping onto the cushiony four poster bed   
and drawing the thick velvet curtains around it, so to block the vision of anyone that might   
come into the room a bit early.   
  
Picking up a used, dirty book that's title was hardly readable, she vaguely reminded herself   
that she wasn't exactly supposed to have books of curses- or at least curse as serious as these-  
at school. It was a pity she couldn't test the curses on someone, though... perhaps if she got  
Harry alone, she could- no, she stopped herself, I'll have to wait for a moment when I can do   
something to him without any consequences. Smiling to herself about this, she casually flipped  
open the cover, and noticed a small note falling out of the book.   
  
She held it up, very confused, since she'd been the only one using the book, and she definitely  
wouldn't have let a friend see it.   
  
The note read:  
  
'Dear Miss Weasley,   
  
One of our... 'mutual friends' has entrusted me with the journal with specific instructions saying  
that I give this to you. I trust since you have obtained my friend's faith, you will be able to use  
this well.  
  
Sincerely,'  
  
-and then there was a stain that could only be blood. Ginny knew about the many different types  
of letter magic, and this was clearly an example of the relatively unused 'oathblood' signature.   
Everything in the letter was true, it was impossible to make it otherwise, and inded they had a   
'mutual friend'.   
  
She fell back onto her pillow, but felt something hard stuffed in the pillow case. Taking the object  
out, she immediately recognized it as the diary from her first year.  
  
The book that had forced her to write her own death message on the wall.  
  
She examined it closely, looking for the places where Harry had stabbed the basilisk fang through   
it, but all was intact, and as far as Ginny could tell, there was no evidence of that fateful day in  
the chamber...   
  
Ginny still sat, looking at it in wonder. Once, she had dreamt that something like this would happen  
and she would have the chance to talk to Tom again... to even the score between them. So,   
slowly but steadily, she withdrew her quill and some ink from her bookbag. Pondering how to begin,  
she bit the end of the quill and stared at the cover.  
  
"Dear Tom," she said, testing an idea, "This is Ginny, remember? The girl you possessed and tried  
to kill. Let's talk."  
  
She giggled at the akwardness of it, then tried to be serious and opened up the worn pages. Dipping  
her quill in the ink, she began to write.  
  
*Hello...*   
  
Sinking into the pages, the diary seemed to take the words in quicker that it would normally, hungry  
for a connection to the writer.  
  
*Hello*, he wrote quickly. *My name is Tom Riddle. What's yours?*  
  
Ginny bitterly laughed, and scratched at the page again.  
  
*Tom... I'm so hurt- you don't remember your Ginny? It's me,* she wrote, her heart beating loudly   
in her chest. There was a moment of hesitation before there was a reply from the archaic book.   
  
*Ginny?* he asked.  
  
She could almost hear his laughter.  
  
*In the flesh,* she etched with emerald ink.  
  
*Why are you coming back to me now?*  
  
*We need to talk, Tom. About a lot of things.*  
  
Soon enough, an answer pushed itself through the pages.  
  
*Don't you hate me? After all I've done to you- made you write your own death message  
on the wall in blood- you still wish to talk?*  
  
*Yes, I believe we still have some things to settle between the two fo us.*  
  
*Then, by all means, come in,* he wrote/said, slowly and deliberately.  
  
*Why can't we just write?* she shifted uncomfortably on her bed.   
  
*Dear Ginny,* he said, *I'm afraid you don't have much of a choice on this matter.*  
  
And before she knew it, she was being pulled inside the diary, not completely against her wishes.  
  
---  
  
*the second year thing is fixed, thank you 'A Devilish Angel'! 


	2. Inside the Diary

The Forgotten and the Remembered  
Chapter Two  
-  
  
And she was in the diary. She found herself in a dimly lit room, similar to the prefect's commons, except  
for it being smaller and crowded with books. Tom was perched in a plush dark green chair in the corner,   
a quill held in his left hand, and the diary sitting in his lap  
  
"Hello, Riddle," she called, a little impatiently, but with a soft edge in her voice.  
  
"We've known each other so long, and yet you still call me Riddle?" Tom said, pushing himself out of the   
chair.  
  
"You haven't changed much," she said, staring at him a bit coldly. "I guess that's to be expected."  
  
He stepped towards her; his long, thin fingers twisting her hair around them. Ginny instinctively flinched.   
  
"But you've changed so much Ginny." His eyes rested on her pale face. "Almost so much that it's as if you  
were another person."  
  
She sat herself down on a cushy sofa quickly and her eyes looked toward the ground.  
  
"Not eager to talk about old times?" Tom said in a mock-hurt voice. "That's fine by me. I was hoping to  
hear about the latest happenings in the wizarding world anyway."  
  
"Well," she said, not really knowing where to start, "I suppose you're the main feature practically everyday.   
You've been terrorizing muggles, muggle-lovers, and practically anything that mentions mudblo- er, muggles,  
in a non-derogatory way."  
  
He smiled a bit at what Ginny tried to cover up.   
  
"What's that lovely word you used? I don't think I've heard that from you-"  
  
Ignoring him, she continued, "You've come close to killing Harry Potter, which, considering the way he's  
treated everyone, I can understand. He's gone soft because of the way Dumbledore treats him, I mean  
to say that-"  
  
A strong hand grabbed her shoulder, holding her in place on the sofa.   
  
"What do you think you're doing?" she asked coldly, sharply.  
  
"Something that was left unfinished. It's kind of funny that you came back to me, like a sheep throwing   
itself into the slaughter. You were uneasy, but still you trusted me enough to come back into my arms."  
  
"You can't leave without me," he smiled cruelly, pressing me into the seat and running his fingers spider-like  
down her back.  
  
"Why would I want to?"  
  
He narrowed his eyes at the comment, wondering what she meant. Opportunity. Leaping up, she pushed  
herself close to Tom and forced his arms around her.  
  
"I didn't come back an innocent little girl," she hissed. "I know your tricks."  
  
She felt his arms tighten, but it wasn't her forcing them this time.  
  
Ginny looked up into the whirling pools that were Tom's eyes and smiled at the emotions she never had the  
chance to see before in him: fear, confusion. He was uncertain, he was weak.  
  
"Tom," she heard herself say, smiling at those frightning eyes, "I'll help you."  
  
And suddenly she fell back upon her own crimson bed, her hand upon the diary which was surrounded by  
a faint white glow.  
  
---  
  
"Ginny," said Hermione, taking notice of the girl's paler-than-usual face, stopped her in the commons.   
"Have you been to dinner yet? It's over in..." -she checked her watch- "twenty minutes."   
  
"Look, Hermione, I'm fine, I'm just not hungry right now-"  
  
Her stomach betrayed her just then with a low, rumbling growl that made two or three students turn around  
in their seats to see what caused it.   
  
The Head Girl raised her eyebrows. "Come on down with me, Ginny. You didn't eat much at lunch, and you  
need to get some food in your stomach. I *am* supposed to be looking the rest of the students, you know,"  
she said when Ginny gave her a doubting look.   
  
They were halfway to the Great Hall when a familiar voice echoed in the hallway.  
  
"Goyle, honestly, how many times do I have to repeat myself before you actually, god forbid, understand   
something?"  
  
Goyle grunted something in response, which resulted in an exasperated sigh from Draco. He soon caught  
sight of the two Gryffindors walking down the hallway, and seized the opportunity.  
  
"Hey Weasel. Did you enjoy the lovely warts I gave to your brother?" he smirked.  
  
"If you really want to know, I don't know anything about it because I haven't talked to my brother in over  
a month."  
  
"Oh, family troubles in the weasel house, is it?" he sneered.  
  
"Go away, Malfoy," said Hermione menacingly, "before I take away points from Slytherin. You know you can't  
afford to lose any more."  
  
He took this into consideration, and decided against pestering them any further.   
  
"I'd watch your back," he said to Hermione snidely, and left the two to walk to the Great Hall.  
  
Dinner was, Ginny found, quite good.  
  
---  
  
Ginny's quill hovered above the page for a second, before she wrote something on the page.  
  
'Hello?'  
  
It didn't dissappear. Below that, she wrote:  
  
'Are you there?'  
  
There still wasn't an answer, but, then again, she really didn't expect one. Tom was out of the diary, perhaps   
not for forever, but for the moment he-  
  
"Ginny?"   
  
She quickly snapped the diary shut.   
  
"Oh hey, Megan. Just catching up on some homework I'd forgotten to do," she innocently lied.  
  
"Oh yeah," Megan grimaced, "we have that affectus vocis potion due for Snape tomorrow."  
  
"God, you're right," Ginny said, slumping, "I haven't even gotten the *ingredients*."  
  
The other girl bit her lip. "The student cabinets are locked for tonight. We-ll, it's the only assignment that you've  
ever missed, and he likes you fairly well- for a Gryffindor. Surely he won't take too many points away."  
  
"He's going to kill me," Ginny said in a dead tone. "Oh well, at least I can always do some extra credit and earn   
maybe... a whole two points if I really try my hardest."  
  
"Only if you volunteer to clean out his used potion vials will you get *that* stunning number of points," joked Megan,  
laughing.  
  
Ginny agreed, "You're probably right."  
  
"We-ll, It's getting late, and I need my beauty sleep," Megan said, excusing herself. "G'night, and don't think about   
Snape- it'll give you nightmares."  
  
"Good night."  
  
---  
  
Three o'clock A.M.   
  
Ginny crept out of bed silently, careful not to draw any attention to herself as she tiptoed out of the dorm. Her   
mission? To access the student potions cabinets in the dungeons. The portrait of the fat lady was kind of perturbed  
at being woken at this time of the night, but she didn't cause any large amount of noise, for which Ginny was  
glad.  
  
The dungeons were quite a long way from Gryffindor tower, and she found it eerie to ride the moving staircases by   
herself in the darkness, with only the dim candlelight to shine her way. At last, she was at the entryway into the   
dungeons, and she walked up to the thick oak door of where the potion ingredients were kept.   
  
"Adaperio," she muttered and the locks, both magical and normal, were gone. She quickly swung the door open, and-  
  
"Now, Ginny," came a voice from behind her. "That's not exactly a charm they teach you in school."  
  
Whipping her head around, she saw that it was none other than Draco Malfoy.  
  
"And you, of all people, breaking into the student cabinets at night," he smirked. "Oh, this is just priceless."  
  
Ginny wrinkled her nose. "I *just* came here to take the ingredients we need for the affectus vocis potion tomorrow,  
and may I ask what *you're* doing, following me?"  
  
"Watching the halls, for I am a prefect. Hence the badge," he said, motioning to the polished item.  
  
"I, too, am of such authority," Ginny smirked.  
  
"Does that make it any less of a rule-breaking?"  
  
"I've seen *you* using some questionable spells around, and I haven't turned you in," said Ginny, becoming a little  
annoyed.  
  
"If I overlook this... break in, then you'll owe me something, right?" Draco said, his eyes gleaming.  
  
"Absolutely," said Ginny, releived he was going in the direction she hoped he would.  
  
"I'll talk to you later then," said Draco, walking off nonchalantly.  
  
"Okay then," said Ginny, breathing once again, but a little scared.  
  
She began to take the ingredients she would need.  
-  
  
Okay, sorry about the wait AGAIN. I have too busy a schedule, y'know, but I'll try to get the next chapter out  
soon(er). 


	3. Flashback

Thanks to all who reviewed the new chapters! That would be... Chocolate Muse, goodmorning(iluvfrogs);):);(:P,  
Liz (Grinning Penguin), A Devilish Angel, Erin (IrishFaery), Krisie (Ling), Chocolate Mousse, Tommy (Superness),  
Spiffy Chan, Prongs, and Monika. Wow! Three lines. I think that's a record or something.  
  
-  
sometimes   
I fear  
being alone-  
the black  
the silence  
of my own thoughts  
that ask me  
why no one else is there  
and I smile  
and I apoligize  
and I admit  
I honestly  
don't know  
though  
I wish  
I did  
  
-  
  
The Forgotten and the Remembered  
Chapter Three  
  
-  
  
Ginny boggled at how she could of been so foolish as to let herself owe Draco Malfoy a favor... but, as she  
looked back on the situation, it was the only visible way out of the situation.   
  
What would he ask for? Would he even keep his word? God, it was degrading to be at Malfoy's mercy.  
  
Damn herself for forgetting the assignment!  
  
She headed back to the dormitory, through the blackness of the deserted hallways and the ghostly   
murmurings of the... well, ghosts. Finally she arrived at the foot of Gryffindor Tower and tapped the portrait  
of the fat lady. who was quite peeved at being woken at the early hour, but let her pass through without  
much fuss.  
  
All that was left of her journey was passing through the common room; after that, she would be home-free.  
No one would be in the room at this ungodly hour-  
  
-but, of course, with Ginny's luck, there was.  
  
A rather familiar figure sat across from the burning fire, leaning somewhat uncomfortably on a Gryffindor-red   
sofa and letting his glassy eyes reflect the flames.  
  
He slowly turned to face a pale-faced Ginny. His body was as real as it could possibly be- it wasn't just  
a temporary illusion, but real!  
  
"Tom," she said simply, trying to think of what was appropriate to do in a moment such as this. "Tom, I-"  
  
Instead of trying to force more words out, she just walked over to the sofa and took a seat next to him,   
setting the potion ingredients to the side. He pulled her to him in a tight embrace and held her until she fell  
asleep.  
  
-  
  
Two years ago, without her parents' knowledge, Ginny had ventured into Knockturn Alley looking for a certain   
diary.   
  
The fourteen year old thought she was capable of defending herself in the strange territory where she had   
been severely forbidden to go, though the few blocking spells she had learned were barely enough to stop  
the jelly legs curse, if that.  
  
She came upon a small, grungy bookstore that instantly came across to her as the type that would have a   
such a thing as she was looking for, and without hesitation, went inside. The store was filled with tall,  
intimidating bookshelves that caused the customer to have to walk around at least ten shelves until they  
could reach a worker.  
  
On her way to the center of the maze, Ginny's eyes skimmed over the titles, which were much more interesting  
than the dull ones in Flourish and Blott's. Ginny picked up one titled *Seven Unspeakable Spells to Spite your   
Foes* by Alira Gnoll and flipped through it until the illustrations became too much and she had to replace it with  
the other books.   
  
Another that caught her eye was a fairly new looking book that bore the title *The Reign of Voldemort*, which  
she took with her.   
  
After many minutes of being lost, she somehow found her way to a counter with a young clerk idly reading   
'Witches of Wonder', a rough equivalent to Playboy in the muggle world. When he didn't look up when she   
waited in front of him, she cleared her throat to gain his attention.  
  
The young man's head snapped up, and Ginny let out a small gasp. It was Evan Sheikler, a Slytherin that had  
graduated the year before.   
  
"Yes? May I help you?" he asked monotonously, pushing his magazine out of sight.   
  
Did he recognize her as a Weasley? Judging by his blank stare, she guessed not.  
  
"Yes, I was looking for a small black diary about this big," she indicated the size with her hands, "that's blank  
inside."  
  
The boy gave her an exasperated look at sighed. "Look, this isn't a stationery shop. You can get that in  
Diagon Alley, if you just-"  
  
"Look," said Ginny, giving him as serious a face as she could manage, "This is not just a simple diary. You'll have  
to trust me on this. It says 'Vauxhall Road' on the back, if that helps."  
  
"Perhaps my father would know what you're talking about," he said. "Father!"   
  
A balding, short man came to the front mumbling some curse words under his breath.  
  
"Father, this girl wants to know if we have a black, blank diary that says 'Vauxhall Road' on the back," he recited.  
  
"We don't carry things like that," he said quickly.  
  
"I don't think you understand. It's actually- well, nevermind. I'll just take this, then," she said, not wishing to   
prolong the encounter, putting the volume she had picked up earlier on the counter.  
  
"Ten sickles," said the man, and eagerly accepted the coins.   
  
Ginny murmured a thanks and found her way to the front of the store, where she stepped out onto the crowded  
street. That store hadn't seemed *horribly* awful, like her mother had always told her all the stores were, though  
some of the titles were a bit... questionable, to say the least. For a while she ambled around without much of  
a goal in mind, and soon she had found herself in front of a pet store, a quite normal one by the looks of it.  
  
Things in Knockturn Alley were there for a reason, she reminded herself. Curiousity aroused, she ventured in.  
  
Owls, rats, cats- the normal pets- were in the front of the store, but in the back right corner there were animals   
that she had never seen before, or rarely seen: large spiders and snakes, muscle-bound doglike creatures, bats,  
and insects that were twice the size of the rats.  
  
The snakes particularly fascinated her; she had been interested in snakes after her first year, when she had a  
rather odd encounter with a basilisk.  
  
While debating whether to get a small tawny owl on the other side of the store, Ginny began to hear some   
voices in conversation, arguing over... who would get bought first? She looked around, trying to see who it could  
be, though there was no one around that within speaking distance.  
  
She wandered to the aisle where the snakes resided, and looked down it, but there was nothing.   
  
And then, the voices again:  
  
"How much do you bet this girl is going to buy me? C'mon!"  
  
Ginny's lips moved, but no sound came out. What? How could it-  
  
"Oh please, she's going to get something cute or cuddly... like a *cat* or something," said a voice scathingly.  
  
"Are you- are you talking about me?" she managed. It didn't sound how she had meant it to, though. It came out in  
a long, drawn out hiss that she didn't recognize as her own voice.   
  
The snakes paused in conversation.  
  
"A parseltongue?" one said, reverently.   
  
"Er-" she edged away, towards the worker at the front and several cries from the snake cage followed her. She   
found herself at the front of the store, with the manager.  
  
"Yes? Can I help you?" he asked slowly.  
  
"Um. Well, um. The snakes. You see. They're- Well. Um."  
  
He was started to look annoyed. "Yes, they're snakes. What about them?"  
  
"They. They- I want to get one," she finished on impulse.   
  
"Oh, yes, well then. Which one would you like?" he asked, dropping the hint of annoyance in his voice.  
  
"Any of them," Ginny said, trying not to listen to them yell at her to pick them.   
  
The manager picked one up and placed in a small plastic cage, handing it to her.   
  
"Well. Er. Thanks. How much is this again?" she stammered.  
  
"Two galleons," he said, extending his hand to take the money. She handed it to him hesitantly (money was hard  
to come by in the Weasley family) and walked quickly out of the store and out of Knockturn Alley.  
  
-  
  
"Mm," said Tom, smoothing Ginny's hair with his long, thin hands. "I didn't realize I put so much of myself in you,"  
he whispered, suddenly feeling strangely awkward holding her in his arms. "And I suppose you've put some of yourself  
in me."  
  
-  
  
A/N - GAH! I took way too long in getting this out. I wrote this all in one day, so I might make small changes to it  
later, but I know I should probably get this out before I forget about this story altogether. Once again, thanks to all  
of the reviewers, and please don't give up on this story!  
  
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .   
. . . /)_ /) . . . . . .   
. . ( ' _ ' ) . . . . . .   
. . / . . . |. . . . . .   
@( _,,_,,). . . . .   
""""""""......""""""""" ......"""""""""""""....  
""""""""""""" """"""" """"""""" """"""""""""" 


	4. Death and Violence

Thanks to the following for reviewing the new chapter 3:  
  
freakyfroggurl22  
  
Parie  
  
Persephonie  
  
kitkat  
  
Superness (Tommy) - what the heck? Your spanish confuses me...  
  
Lady Lestrange - don't worry, I won't forget about this!   
  
Prongs  
  
Ace Gang  
  
Stacy  
  
IrishFaery (Erin)  
  
Phoenix12  
  
and... no one (???)  
  
Oh, and just to remind you again, if you reviewed the old chapters and are unable to leave  
  
a signed review, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do an unsigned review or email me with your comments...  
  
you don't know how much I'd appreciate it.  
  
-  
  
The Forgotten and the Remembered  
  
Chapter Four  
  
-  
  
Ginny dreamt as Tom held her.  
  
She dreamt of a time before she was born- Tom's time.   
  
She was looking at a picture that a young Tom was gripping tightly, of two individuals that   
  
bore resemblance to him. It was a muggle photo, she noticed, since the people never moved.   
  
Could those people be... Tom's parents?  
  
They certainly did look like him.  
  
All of a sudden the picture was swiped away by someone's hand.  
  
"Thinking about your parents again?" sneered a cruel young boy's voice. "You should just   
  
forget them. Your father would never come back to get such a freak like you."   
  
Tom's hand trembled, but his face remained steady. The boy let out a loud laugh as he snatched   
  
the picture out of Tom's hands and began to rip it to tiny bits. Tom's face was still impassive,   
  
but a hot rage was bubbling behind his hazel eyes, building up and getting ready to leap out.   
  
And it hit the unexpecting laughing boy with such force that he didn't know what had happened.   
  
Several large, reddish boils were sprouting over the boy's face, and popping as soon as they had   
  
swelled to the size of a quarter. Soon he was unrecognizable for all the blood covering his face.   
  
His laughter had turned into horrible screams of pain and horror.   
  
Soon, the attention of an orphanage caretaker was drawn to the room, where they found Tom   
  
sitting calmly on his bed withthe bits of the picture in his hand, and the boy clutching his face   
  
and moaning.  
  
Tom Riddle never forgot the beating he received that night. He would carry the scars with him  
  
for the rest of his life, but it was nothing compared to the ones the boy that bullied him would have   
  
to display to the world until he died.   
  
-  
  
"Tom..." Ginny murmured in her sleep.  
  
-  
  
Megan Grahm, one of Ginny's classmates, was found dead the next morning in her scarlet   
  
four-poster bed.   
  
Her throat had been slit expertly; the blood surrounding her enhanced the redness of the sheets  
  
she lay on. Two glazed-over hazel eyes were staring at the celing, and a small round mouth  
  
remained slightly open.   
  
Ginny's bed, however, two beds to the left of the horrible scene, was an item of perfection. The  
  
sheets were folded without a single wrinkle, and somthing shiny gleamed upon the pillow. Her  
  
belongings remained untouched; the only thing missing was her wand.  
  
A girl named Sara was the first awake. Her bed was next to Megan's, so she had a close view of  
  
the bloody mess. Her scream woke the other sleeping girls who, in turn, expressed their horror.   
  
Sara wrapped herself in a robe and ran barefoot to find the Headmaster- or *any* teacher- and  
  
tell what had happened. The other girls hurried to alert the rest of Gryffindor.  
  
Professor Snape, who was on his way to an early breakfast, was startled when a sobbing Gryffindor  
  
literally ran into him, muttering something about blood.   
  
"*What* are you doing running around the halls in your bedclothes?" Snape demanded tiredly.  
  
"Professor," Sara wailed, "M-Megan is d-dead. I don't know what happened..."  
  
Snape drew his wand and began to run towards Gryffindor tower. He reached the portrait of the   
  
Fat Lady, which swung open reluctantly at the password ("honeycomb").  
  
The entire house of Gryffindor had congregated in the common room, some dressed, and some in   
  
their pyjamas. All looked frightened and nervous; a few were crying.  
  
He quickly performed a countercharm to the girl's stairs so that he could walk up them without them  
  
becoming a slide. All eyes were fixed on Snape as he made his way to the 6th year girls' dormitory.  
  
Snape let out an involuntary gasp.   
  
He had seen a lot of death, but most were clean and painless, as the result of Avada Kedavra.   
  
Megan's neck had a deep, precise cut that looked immensely painful.  
  
It was then that he noticed Ginny's bed and the shiny Prefect badge gleaming on top of it.  
  
-  
  
The night before had created an almost ideal situation for Tom.  
  
Ginny had sneaked out of Gryffindor Tower to gather some Potions ingredients she had forgotten  
  
to obtain earlier, giving Tom the perfect chance to reinstate himself in the world.   
  
But life was not just given to him without a price. He needed to take the life of another to become  
  
completely alive.   
  
First, since he could not fully use his powers since he was not much more than a ghost, he would   
  
have to kill her in a less than instant way. He could still cast a silencing charm, which didn't take  
  
much magical energy, so he did so on a random sleeping girl. He then took a key, which he had  
  
found on the girl's bedside table, and sharpened it with a bit of magic. It was the equivalent of  
  
a very sharp knife.   
  
He quickly, deliberately, made a deep cut across the throat, and saw her open her eyes in panic.   
  
Her mouth was open to scream, but no sound came out. Tom held her down until life slowly left her,  
  
and then he licked the blood off of her until he felt a warmth creep into his fingers. He ran a hand   
  
through the girl's hair, and began to leave, placing the key into a pocket.   
  
Before he left the room, he casually cast a spell towards Ginny's bed to make the sheets fold  
  
themselves. He took Ginny's Prefect badge off of her table and put it on her pillow, because, after  
  
all, she wouldn't return. 


	5. Waking Up

OH MY GOD, I've neglected this story beyond apologies. I have attempted to write versions of this chapter, but this is the first one I think I could continue with relative ease. I must thank all of my reviewers (are you guys still there?), which includes:

LyssaTucci, Wolf Archer, Chucky1982, FiCtIoNfAn, RianSapphire9, Leena, letylyf, Grinning Penguin, meen green dancing machine, Kill-stealer, Lady Lestrange, The all mighty and powerfulM, Lilliane, Nobody22, ele, Persephonie, Sesshoumarus-girl, Catt, Velvet Rose1, CS June, and Drogan.

My next update will come a lot sooner, I assure you.

The Forgotten and the Remembered

Chapter 5

Before the current Hogwarts year, Ginny had told her parents she had gone to stay at her friend Cynthia Brum's house, who was a muggle-born Hufflepuff. To avoid arousing suspicion, she informed her family that the Brums were deathly afraid of magic and were likely to pull their daughter out of Hogwarts if they saw as much as an owl. This was partially true, since Dumbledore that to personally convince Cynthia's parents to allow her to attend school.

However, Ginny did not go to Cynthia's house, but Diagon Alley. Most of the things she ached to know were not accessible at the Burrow, and bringing back books with titles like Ginny planned to study would not be very inconspicuous. So she looked for work and a place to stay at her next visit and made arrangements for the summer.

She found work as a clerk for a pet store handling money and records. She never did any of the actual work with the animals; Mims, the owner, was the only one to handle them. However, she did work with them in one particular case.

Mims was having trouble with a duo of exotic snakes that hissed threateningly and even attacked prospective buyers. The snakes, which were from Merlin knows where, were causing the old man lots of trouble with customers and he was anxious to sell them to some brave customer just so he could be through with them.

Ginny was confused and frightened when she began to understand the snakes. When she first heard the voices, she was so startled she dropped a sack of sickles a customer had handed her, coins going everywhere. Mims glared at her from across the store, where he was tending to the owls.

"Sorry," she muttered, getting on her knees and gathering the scattered coins hurriedly.

"Why didn't you tell me the snakes spoke?" Ginny asked, picking the last sickle off of the ground.

"What the _hell_ are you talking about?" Mims questioned, his short nose wrinkling. Though he was not a horrible employer, Mims was not the nicest person, often chastising Ginny for small mistakes.

"Are you sure?" she asked, standing up and brushing the dust off of her robes. "I heard voices from the cages."

Narrowing his eyes at her, Mims walked a few feet away from the cages in question.

"Hello, my angry serpents," he cooed mockingly. "Miss Weasley tells me that you can talk."

"_Of courssse we can, you fool," _an orange one replied in annoyance. _"It'sss not our fault you don't underssstand."_

Ginny held back a snicker as Mims turned to her.

"See? I told you, they don't talk," he said, with a slight sneer of triumph gracing his features.

"But they did!" insisted Ginny. She bit her lip and looked at him. "They just insulted you."

"_What?"_

"Well, the orange one called you a fool-"

As soon as Mims could get close enough, he grabbed her shoulder sharply.

"You understand them?" he demanded, his mustached face closer than Ginny had ever wanted it to be. "Are you a Parselmouth?"

"I-I- don't know," she stammered, pulling herself out of his grip. "I've never understood what they were saying before."

"Go back to work," he said roughly. "We'll try something after closing."

Luckily, the store was almost empty and no one took notice of the strange happening. Half an hour later, Mims pulled his wand out and flipped the sign on the entrance to read 'CLOSED'.

There was an uncomfortable pause.

"Miss Weasley, come over here."

Ginny hesitated, but walked over in front of the cages. The orange serpent slithered impatiently around its cage. Another one, light blue, stared back and was still. She knew what Mims wanted her to do.

"Hello?" she finally said.

The orange snake stopped abruptly, then it unleashed a string of insults Ginny had never heard before in her life, insults that could only be conveyed in Parseltongue.

"You wisssh to sssell us and ssseparate us!" it accused after the long train of snake expletives.

Ginny paused, then laughed. "Is that what you're worried about? We will sell you- is a pet store, after all- but I can have it arranged so that you two remain together, if that will stop your attacks towards the customers "

The blue snake twitched slightly. "How isss it that you can ssspeak our language?"

Ginny thought. "I honestly don't know," she admitted. "You're the first snakes I've talked to."

"We accept your termsss, human. If you do not keep your word, may a basssilisssk devour you," the orange snake hissed.

She involuntarily shuddered at the mentioning. That brought back memories of the Chamber and… Tom. She shook off the feeling as Mims said something.

His words sounded strange to her after listening to the snakes; English was a much harsher language than Parseltongue.

"Are you going to fire me now?" she asked, suddenly realizing she had put herself into a compromising position by talking with the serpents.

"Let's just let this be our secret," he murmured, looking shaken after seeing his meek employee conversing with the snakes. It reminded him oddly of his Lord Voldemort speaking with his familiar. The same mannerisms were present in the two parselmouths.

Did Voldemort _know_ about the girl? Mims looked back at Ginny and decided he would rather not attract the attention he would get by exposing the girl.

"…our secret," he repeated.

Ginny found herself underneath a scratchy dark blue sheet and a thick wool blanket when she woke. Her eyes opened slowly, taking in the surroundings before she had a chance to comprehend what had happened.

Table, curtains, lamp, Tom, she thought, looking around. Tom!

"What happened?" she demanded, pushing herself into a sitting position. Swinging her feet to the side of the bed, she felt the unfinished wood floor rough against her feet. She reached for her wand, but she was still in her pajamas and without her only mean of magical defense.

"You. What did you do?" she asked again.

"Is _everything_ my fault, Ginny" he asked in a mock-hurt voice. "Isn't this _your_ doing? You brought me out of that wretched book and gave me the means to live. What _I_ did is a direct result of your actions."

Ginny was speechless. _Wasn't_ it what she wanted? She wanted to finally to be face to face with Tom again so that she could finally confront what had plagued her thoughts for the last five years.

"You don't want to fight me," Tom said passively, picking a leather book up from the table and running his skeletal fingers up and down the spine. "I know you; you're a part of me, Ginny. And you have bits of me scattered through you, whether you like it or not. If either one of us is destroyed, we would lose parts of ourselves."

Ginny watched him, waiting for something more.

"I didn't ask about any connections between us. I asked what you had done."

"I finished what you had started, sweet Ginny. You pulled me out of the diary with that stunt of yours, but I had to do something else to ensure that I really _lived_."

He smiled icily.

"And what was that?" Her mouth was dry.

He stopped fingering the book. "I killed your roommate and drunk the life from her."

His plain words echoed in Ginny's head. He usually spoke in a wayward manner, dancing around his main goal in his speech.

The news should have been devastating, but for some reason, it _wasn't._ Whether it was shock or something within Ginny that blocked her feelings from surfacing, she remained static emotionally.

"I rather enjoy this sensation of being alive," Tom mused, stretching his hands. "I have the memories of such feelings, but I suppose I never actually experienced them. For this, I have only _you_ to thank."

"You're too proud to give anyone else credit for anything," Ginny accused.

"Before," he said, "I told you that you were a part of me. When I was attempting to use you to gain power for the first time, I took a lot from you. Most of it you got back when _Harry Potter-_" he hissed, "-saved the day. But some of you I retained. I became slightly more human, and you, I suppose, slightly less."

Tom was touching everything around him, but especially the books. Ginny watched him as he grinned childishly at the sensations that were previously denied from him.

"You know, I've never had to sleep. Or eat, for that matter." He paused and frowned. "Or shit. I'm sure that isn't too pleasant."

This is unbelievable, Ginny thought. Tom Riddle, alive and warm, was rambling about basic bodily functions after killing Ginny's housemate- her friend- the night before. Why didn't she feel anything that she was supposed to? Hatred and sorrow would have been acceptable.

Instead of a curse escaping her lips, Ginny found herself suggesting that they eat breakfast.

What in Merlin's name, was she thinking?


End file.
